Chapter 51
"Are we really going home today, Daddy?" Luke asked as the family sat in the refectory finishing their breakfast the next morning.
Anakin nodded. "We are indeed," he replied. "The doctor said I'm fine and ready to go home."
"I'm glad," Leia said. "I don't like it here. It's kinda boring."
Padmé and Anakin exchanged an amused look.
"Did you know that you and your brother were born here?" Obi-Wan asked Leia.
"Were we?" Leia asked, her interest sparked.
Padmé nodded. "Yes, Obi-Wan is right," she told the children.
"I could even show you the very room you were born in if you like," Obi-Wan offered. "It will give your parents a chance to talk to the doctor before we leave."
"That's a good idea," Padmé said. "Thank you, Obi-Wan."
"Not at all," Obi-Wan replied with a smile, as he stood up with the children. "Come along little ones," he said as he ushered Luke and Leia away from the table.
Padmé turned back to Anakin, who she had noticed was rather quiet at the moment. "Something wrong?" she asked as she took a sip of her tea.
Anakin looked at her. "No, nothing wrong," he lied.
Padmé frowned. "Don't try to tell me nothing's wrong, Anakin," she said. "I know better." She stopped as she realized what it was. "It bothers you that Obi-Wan was present at the twins' birth and you weren't, doesn't it?"
Anakin rubbed his stubbly chin. "Yeah, it does," he admitted. "It's not that I resent him, Padmé; I'm over that now. I suppose I'm just…envious. When I think of what happened on that day…" he stopped as the memories of the agony he had undergone at the hands of Sidious' droids jumped to mind.
Padmé put her hand on his, stopping the flood of memories cold. "I know," she said softly. "But there's no sense thinking about the past, Ani; there is nothing we can do to change it. All we can do is look forward to the future, and be grateful that we are together now, all four of us."
Anakin smiled, lifting her hand to his mouth to kiss it tenderly. "I am grateful," he said. "More grateful than words can say, Padmé. But there will always be a part of me that has regrets, a part of me that wishes I could change the past."
"I know that," Padmé replied. "That's to be expected. I'm just so relieved that you and Obi-Wan have made peace."
"So am I," he replied. "I know that making peace with him was my test, Padmé, the last step I needed to take in order to rid myself of the Dark Side completely."
"And you did it," she said with a smile. "You have come so far in such a short time. I'm so proud of you, Ani," she added.
Anakin smiled. "I couldn't have done it without you, Padmé," he told her. "If it weren't for your steadfast belief in me, I would still be living in darkness. If you hadn't taken the chance to come to me for protection, I would have spent the rest of my life in that darkness, serving that monster that enslaved me in the first place."
"That won't happen, Ani," she told him. "You have won, and the dark side has lost."
"Not quite," Anakin reminded her. "In order for the Sith to be completely destroyed, I have to destroy Palpatine. He knows, Padmé. He knows that I'm alive and that I have renounced the Dark Side."
Padmé felt a wave of cold fear spread over her at his words. "Anakin, how? How could he possibly know?"
Anakin thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to explain it to her. "Think of the Force as a great body of water. What happens when you throw a pebble into a lake?"
"It makes concentric waves," Padmé replied.
Anakin nodded. "Exactly. The Force is something like that; when something happens to a Force sensitive, be it good or bad, it can be sensed by others, as though a pebble has been tossed into a lake. It sends out waves in the Force, ripples, or tremors. Well, imagine if you threw a boulder into a lake," he continued. "That is the magnitude of what has happened to me. Turning from the Dark side back to the light has caused a huge tremor in the force, a shock wave if you like. Palpatine has felt it, I know he has, I felt his reaction to it only yesterday. He knows Anakin Skywalker has returned, and he knows that I mean to kill him. And he's right, I do."
"But why, Ani?" she asked. "We have our whole lives ahead of us, we have our children, you have your health back; why would you risk all that now?"
"Because it is my destiny to do so, Padmé," Anakin explained patiently. "I am the Chosen One, and as the Chosen One I must destroy the Sith. I am already halfway there; destroying Darth Vader was half the battle. But I must destroy Sidious, or else he will find another apprentice and the Sith will rule the galaxy indefinitely. Can you see how important this is, Padmé?"
Padmé looked down at her hand in his. "Yes, I suppose I can," she replied. "It just scares me to think of you facing him, Ani," she said, looking up at him. "If something were to happen to you…" she stopped as her emotions overcame her.
"Nothing is going to happen to me," Anakin assured her. "I won't be alone, Padmé. I have three other Jedi to help me. The four of us will be no match for him. He will be destroyed, Padmé; I promise you."
Padmé only nodded, knowing her husband well enough to realize that there would be no dissuading him from this course of action. Anakin Skywalker was nothing if not single minded. And if she were completely honest with herself, Padmé would have to admit that there was a part of her that craved revenge on Palpatine for all that he had done. He stole everything from us, she thought angrily. Everything! Perhaps it is right that Anakin make him pay for that.
"I know you will fulfill your destiny, Anakin," she said at last. "And I will support you in doing what you feel is right, you know that."
Anakin smiled. "I know you will," he replied. "I couldn't do it without you, Padmé. Your love has made me what I am. I would be nothing without you."
Padmé said nothing, but merely leaned toward him and kissed him, allowing her actions to speak for her. Anakin kissed her back, holding her face in his hands, not caring if others in the refectory were watching their open display of affection.
"Let's go home," he said at last, looking into her eyes, his forehead touching hers.
Padmé smiled, recognizing the warm look in his eyes. "Yes, let's go home."
Anakin and Padmé caught up with Obi-Wan and the twins a short time later.
"Did you find it?" Padmé asked Obi-Wan. "The place where the twins were born?"
"No," Obi-Wan said, his eyes troubled. "It seems the maternity wing of the facility was….under renovations."
Padmé and Anakin looked at one another, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
"That would be the handiwork of the emperor's henchmen," Anakin remarked bitterly. "In their obsession to find any record of Padmé and the twins' existence, they tore the place apart."
"Yes, it looked like it," Obi-Wan remarked. "I only hope the twins weren't able to pick up on the negative imprints I sensed there."
"I'm sure they were," Anakin replied, looking down at his children. "They are very sensitive."
"Yes, I've noticed," Obi-Wan said. "Are we all set then? Has Captain Tanik readied the ship?"
"I spoke to him earlier," Padmé said. "So hopefully we're all set to go."
"Let's be off then," Anakin said, taking his children by the hands. "I'm ready to go home."
Bail Organa was just leaving the docking bay as Anakin and his family arrived. It was obvious from the viceroy's face that something was troubling him deeply.
"Senator Organa," Obi-Wan said. "We didn't expect to see you back here! Is everything alright?"
"No, I'm afraid not, Obi-Wan," Organa replied. "I had a visit from the emperor."
Anakin frowned. "He knows I'm alive," he stated matter-of-factly.
Obi-Wan looked at him quickly. "Are you certain?" he asked. He looked back at Organa. "Did he say something?"
"He didn't say anything," Organa replied. "But he had the strangest…fit while I was with him. There's no other way to describe it. I thought the old bastard was having a heart attack."
"If only we could be so lucky," Padmé commented dryly.
"He was feeling the shift," Obi-Wan realized, looking back at Anakin. "He must have felt the change, Anakin. And now he knows."
Anakin nodded. "Yes, he knows," he agreed. "But that knowledge will not help him, Obi-Wan. His end is coming, and I think he knows it."
"He will be no match for you now, Anakin," Organa remarked. "Not now that you are healthy and whole again. I saw fear in his eyes, I'm sure of it."
"He should be afraid, "Obi-Wan put in. "The Sith are about to be destroyed forever, he has good reason to be afraid. Four Jedi against one Sith; he doesn't stand a hope in hell."
"Gentlemen, language," Padmé said, frowning first at Obi-Wan and then at Bail.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said contritely.
"We are just on our way home," Anakin told Organa. "Are you coming?"
Organa shook his head. "I will go to Dagobah," he replied. "I will bring Yoda and Nejaa back to Delaya so the four of you can make your plans."
Anakin nodded. "Very good, we'll meet you back on Delaya in a few days."
"You will," Organa replied. "Good luck."
Anakin shook hands with the Senator, and then he and Obi-Wan escorted Padmé and the twins to the ship that was waiting to take them home, as Organa returned to his own ship to leave for Dagobah. Soon both ships were on their way, heading towards opposite ends of the galaxy.
